This flavorful and simple alternative to roasted Thanksgiving turkey is sure to please! Try this orange-ginger glaze for your Thanksgiving feast!
The way I see it, removing stressors as much as possible ensures you can enjoy a relaxing holiday.
One of the biggest triggers of stress around the holidays? Food. Particularly the preparation of it.
Because we all want the meal that unites our family and friends to be flawless, we frequently overthink and complicate things.
Therefore, let’s attempt to reduce some of the stress by mastering the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal: the turkey.
Read my post from last year if you’re looking for advice on How to Roast the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey. I covered a ton of ground in that post to make sure your turkey preparation was stress-free and flawless.
While you can approach turkey in a myriad of ways, I generally take a very simple approach. The best way of ensuring your Thanksgiving turkey turns out perfectly is first starting with a quality turkey.
The final product’s nutrient profile and taste and texture are greatly influenced by the methods used in its raising and harvest. I’ve been using Diestel Turkey, a family-run turkey ranch located in Sonora, California, for the past six years. Diestel turkeys are thoughtfully raised on sustainable ranches without antibiotics. They offer both organic and all-natural options, and you can tell the difference in quality by looking at how well the animals are cared for.
I’m not going to sugar-coat my opinion when it comes to animal products – quality matters.
Eating a nutritious diet is important, but so is paying attention to the quality of your food because “eating healthy” doesn’t mean anything until you know what you’re putting into your body.
Diestel is the only brand of turkey that I eat, including turkey deli meat, bacon, ground turkey, and sausage. This is a pretty powerful statement, but it’s one with years of tried and true experience. It is the cleanest, tastiest, easiest to digest animal protein I’ve ever consumed.
Because consumers are demanding better food, our food industry is becoming cleaner, but there is a lot of potentially deceptive branding.
What may look like a health product may actually be right on par with less-than-stellar options. This demonstrates the effectiveness of marketing and how calming neutral colors and a playful font can have a big impact.
I adore blogging because it allows me to share the health-related products I genuinely believe in and use. Products that are honest, real, responsible, and nutritious.
Unbeknownst to the public, the majority of meat businesses are venture capital firms, and all aspects of the growing and processing are outsourced. There’s so much removal from the owners to the producers that there are easy breaches in quality.
Indeed, even meat products that have ranch-style packaging that gives off a cozy, small-business vibe are owned by large corporations whose main goal is portfolio diversification.
That comment isn’t meant to be a criticism of capitalism; rather, it’s meant to emphasize that, despite your perceptions, you aren’t actually supporting a small, high-quality family ranch. One of the main reasons I adore Diestel products is that I am always 100% confident in the amount of thought and care that goes into them from beginning to end.
Yo, Thanksgiving peeps! Looking for a mouthwatering turkey recipe that’s easy, delicious, and guaranteed to impress your guests? Look no further than this Orange Honey Glazed Turkey.
This recipe combines the sweetness of honey with the zesty tang of orange for a flavor explosion that’ll have everyone at the table asking for seconds. Plus, it’s super simple to make, so you can focus on enjoying the holiday with your loved ones.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
- Easy and Straightforward: No complicated steps or fancy ingredients, just pure deliciousness.
- Perfectly Balanced Flavors: The sweet honey and tangy orange complement each other perfectly, creating a flavor that’s both unique and irresistible.
- Golden Brown Perfection: The glaze gives the turkey a beautiful golden brown color that’s sure to impress.
- Moist and Tender: The slow roasting process ensures that the turkey is juicy and tender, not dry and overcooked.
Ingredients:
- 12-16 lb turkey, fully defrosted
- 1/4 C kosher salt
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 3 T brown sugar
- 2 T orange zest
- 5 T unsalted butter, softened
- For the glaze:
- 1/4 C honey
- 2 T soy sauce
- 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 3 T unsalted butter
- 1 T finely chopped rosemary
- Juice of 2 navel oranges (about a 1/3 C)
Instructions:
- Prep the Turkey: Remove the giblets from the turkey and pat it dry.
- Season and Chill: Rub the salt, pepper, brown sugar, and orange zest all over the turkey, including under the skin. Let it chill uncovered in the fridge for 24 hours.
- Bring to Room Temp: Take the turkey out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for an hour before cooking.
- Preheat and Roast: Preheat your oven to 400° F. Place the turkey on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet or a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Roast for 30 minutes.
- Make the Glaze: Combine all glaze ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Glaze and Roast: Turn the oven temperature down to 300° F. Glaze the turkey and continue roasting, glazing every 30 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 155-160° F in the breast and 165-170° F in the thigh.
Tips and Tricks:
- Don’t Overcook: Use a meat thermometer to ensure the turkey is cooked through but not dry.
- Keep It Moist: Maintain a level of liquid in the bottom of the pan throughout the cooking process to keep the turkey moist.
- Carve with Confidence: Carve the turkey in the kitchen before bringing it to the table to avoid any awkwardness.
Additional Resources:
- Taste of Home Orange-Glazed Turkey Recipe: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/orange-glazed-turkey/
- Jo Eats Orange and Honey Roasted Turkey Recipe: https://joeats.net/home/orange-honey-roasted-turkey/
Make this Orange Honey Glazed Turkey the star of your Thanksgiving feast and enjoy a delicious and memorable holiday meal!
How to Make Glazed Turkey:
We take a 2-step approach to this turkey:
Step 1: Combine olive oil, paprika, and garlic powder to create a “slurry.” As they say on the British Baking show, BAKE!.
Step 2: Prepare the glaze and spread it on the bird 30 minutes before it has finished roasting.
After roasting, make sure to let the bird rest for at least 20 minutes to allow the juices to circulate throughout the bird. This will make the finished product incredibly tender!
How to Make Orange Honey Glazed Turkey
Does honey glaze make a turkey brown?
The caramelization of the sugars in the honey glaze will naturally help make the turkey golden brown in this recipe. But you can also apply a layer of fat (olive oil, canola or vegetable oil, or softened butter) across the skin of the entire turkey prior to baking to roast it up golden and seal in moisture at the same time.
Can you cook a turkey breast with orange glaze?
The orange glaze adds a little bit of sweetness for flavor and great caramelization. Roasting can cause lean meats, such as turkey breast, to dry out. But if you start with a brine, it will stay juicy even when cooked for hours. A brine is basically a solution of salt and water.
What does orange glazed Turkey taste like?
This orange-glazed turkey is flavored with marmalade, butter, honey, and herbs making a toothsome combination in this delightful holiday main dish.
How do you thicken a Turkey glaze?
One quick, easy way to either thicken or thin a glaze is to apply heat. If the glaze seems too thick, place it in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until it is of a thinner consistency that will be easier to brush onto your turkey.